Thread: Starting over again

Well first off, i've posted here about a year ago. To start I'm 24 and once got up to about 287lbs at 6'4". I wore size 46-48 pants and probably a 3x shirt. Clothes shopping just wasn't any fun at all.

Got my father's inheritence at 21 and decided to take my first real vacation. Went all the way to hong kong. While there I finally realized how FAT and out of shape I was. Walking around all day just wore me out. I told myself that when I came home I would change my entire life and lose weight.

Got home and moved out of my mother's home and got an apartment. That was my first step towards losing weight. I've found that when you live in a small house with no room for equipment and are around people who eat junk it's just more difficult to lose weight. Also, unfortunately there was so way i'd ever set foot in a gym at nearly 300lbs.

Didn't know much at the time and how it would have been just as good going with free weights, but I went with the Bowflex. I just liked how if I didn't notice any difference I could send it back. That was the biggest selling point for me.

Went on a 1500 calorie diet. Had absolutely no problems with that. My biggest mistake I made is that I think I was afraid of eating too much and that I wouldn't lose any weight! The bad thing is that I didn't gain much muscle..at all, but the fat just melted off. I lost 8lbs the first week. Maybe it's all water, who knows.

The one thing I remember the most is having to buy new pants weekly it seemed. I got tired of buying the usual 35-$50 jeans and then having them be too big a week later so I bought some $20 jeans to wear around the house. Not only that I started poking holes in my belts because I was buying so many of them!

Here is one fact i've learned. Eating healthy is hard the first week. Once you get used to not eating junk it's so much easier. It also is much easier when you are working out all the time.

To make a long story short I lost an entire 91lbs!! Went down to about 196lbs. Unfortunately I didn't go to 100% and feel like I gave up within 10% of my goal. I know this is a big excuse but it's the truth.

A month after buying the Bowflex I lost my good paying job and spent months and months searching for a new job. Eventually I was forced to sell my Bowflex just to keep a roof over my head. It didn't help much because eventually I had to move out. I really did try my best to find a job but had no luck.

Had to move in with my own mother for a few months..probably 6 months to "get my feet off the ground" again. The apartment is so small that any sort of exercise equipment couldn't fit in there. I tried to come up with a way to do barbell bench presses but that didn't work out that well. Recliners don't work too well for that

Ate healthy for the first few months there. Went out and walked every single day for a half an hour. Even attempted to run but didn't have much luck with that. I still think if I tried to run a mile I would pass out. I also could not afford a gym membership since I had no real income coming in. All excuses I know..

During winter I ate so much junk. I didn't pig out on food or anything like that really. Not a whole lot of fast food, just a hamburger every once in awhile. I just got into eating too much sugary food. Like some days at night I would get all depressed and drink a large shake from mcdonalds or something. Or some days I would stop and get "munchies" at the store before heading home. It's sad really, because once you get into doing that it doesn't stop unless you try hard. I had this stupid excuse and complete lie going through my head sometimes.."what's the point of eating healthy when i'm not exercising?!" Of course one day when I was eating Marshmallow Peeps I got sick and was sick for nearly 4 days! That kind of woke me up. When I ate garbage I felt like garbage.

I'll try and shut up soon, but I went from 196lbs to 224. NOT GOOD!! Size 36 pants were now too tight, same with my size L shirt

Good news is that I now had set up my own online business and was making so good money. Definitely enough for a gym membership. Don't laugh, but the idea of going to a gym scares me to death. I don't have a clue why. I thought of going to one for weeks without doing it. Someday I just DID it.

Anyway, it's been 4 days and I haven't touched any junk food. I'm so proud of myself. I've also been eating 6 meals a day and have decided to not worry too much about what I eat as long as it's healthy. I also made a rule to always plan ahead.

The first day at the gym I did 25 minutes of cardio and then lifted weights. I've got to admit I feel like I had no direction the first day. I had no clue what most of the equipment does, but I guess i'll learn eventually. Thought I gave a half asses workout because I completely forgot to train several body parts. Whoops. I guess it was my first day. I know i'll do everything better when I go in again and can record what I do on a chart.

The problem I've had is the next day I was in extreme pain. Not just simple muscle soreness. It hurt to lift a single cup to drink water, adjust my glasses and take off and put on a shirt. Scratching my back was nearly impossible, let alone extending my arms fully. I think I overdid my first day. I should have started out with less weight. The only thing I remember is doing so many barbell curls that when I tried a 35lb dumbbell I couldn't even lift it once.

My chest hurt as well, but not that much. That I could stand. It's as if I can't even function properly. I was so close to going into the gym again but decided to go with my judgement and take an extra day off. It's the 4th day now and my arms/biceps still hurt like that, but still not as bad as the 2nd day. Maybe I forgot to stretch? BTW does L-Glutamine help with muscle soreness? My friend told me it does, but I don't know if he's correct or not.

Anyway, that's it I guess. Hope to finally gain some muscle and lose the rest of my FAT. Now I know what to do correctly this time..eat more food! Disappointing to have not gained much muscle. I was like so obsessed with that scale! As if lower weight on the scale really meant anything! I'm still pretty wimpy. I probably couldn't do 20 pushups, run a mile or even do a single pullup. Guess that's due to the 1500 calorie diet. Stupid me didn't realize you can't gain muscle unless you eat more than you burn

You have a great start!
I know when I first started working out(without weights.. just pushups ect) I was so sore I couldnt reach food to my mouth(Well, I could.. but not easily) I was like that for days.. You shouldnt work out until you dont feel that pain anymore, its telling you that your muscle is healing. Also, I believe its a short span in the final part of repairing muscle tissue that new muscle grows; so by working out again too soon, you can very potentially reset that cycle, which would take away the benefits of the previous workout.. More importantly; You could accually lose muscle mass by overtraining, so be careful not to push yourself too hard.

Theres 3 key ingredients to body building.

>Drive - If you dont want to improve, you wont.
>Persistency - If you want to improve, you have to try, do, do again, do again, and again..
>Knowledge - No matter how much you want to improve, nor how much you try; it's a waste of time if you dont know how to do it right.

I think you have very good drive and persistency, and from your site Id say you have a good knowledge base. And of course if you need any help.. Welcome to IM! Thats what we're for! Nobody knows everything, thats the point of the forums though; so dont be afraid to ask.
"Theres no stupid questions. Only stupid people."

You can find information on exercises here - http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html

(Thx to tryingtogetbig for the link!) theres a small animation that shows how to do each exercise; which could give you a good idea of what some of the equipment is for. I suggest reading anything you can get your hands on as well; Getting an optimum workout provides optimum results.. better results = more motivation, its a great cycle

Oh, and lol- Poor tripod

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